Table 6.

Themes, subthemes, and quotes by participants.

Main theme and subthemes		Participant quotes
Content
	Learning	“I enjoyed learning about new forms of interaction and their applications.” (Participant #3) “I appreciated tips given during the course, since they were very interesting and also useful for learning new skills.” (Participant #10)
	Reflection	“Reported topics were all interesting and quick to address. I spent very little time with the chatbot but I think I got some food for thought.” (Participant #1)
	Multimedia	“I liked the guided meditation videos.” (Participant #5) “I really liked the relaxation videos.” (Participant #7) “It was nice to have the possibility to access videos and not just texts, that can be boring.” (Participant #8) “I enjoyed the guided meditation videos.” (Participant #13) “What I liked most were the mindfulness and motivational videos.” (Participant #16) “Videos were long and I often tended to quit them before the end.” (Participant #3) “Videos often recommended walking or covering distances, which made it difficult to perform the task for people like me who live in a small indoor place (I often did not have the possibility or desire to move outdoors).” (Participant #9) “What I liked less was the videos. They were interesting, but I think they should be improved in terms of graphics and visuals in order to be engaging for users.” (Participant #10)
	Routine	“Unfortunately receiving videos for me had become a pleasant habit, so when it went over it looked like a sudden interruption to me.” (Participant #16)
	Mindfulness	“Breathing tips, calm tone of voice put me in a good mood, dialogues were motivating and relaxing.” (Participant #9) “I find the bot an excellent first opportunity to practice mindfulness, especially for those who - like me - can never find the time to stop and breathe and have never tried anything like this before.” (Participant #13)
	Motivation	“Low incentive.” (Participant #2) “It didn’t appeal to me so much, so I struggled to be constant.” (Participant #15)
	Originality	“The originality of the exercises, in my opinion, it is very important to foster a change in people to help them.” (Participant #6)
	Repetitiveness	“In my opinion, questions should vary over time: ‘how are you’ should be asked in a more nuanced way, otherwise it sounds repetitive. I suggest, if possible, to vary the dialogues with the user, especially the welcoming messages.” (Participant #16)
User experience
	Sense of reality	“First of all, I appreciated the continuity of the short course with the chatbot, the interactions were well thought out and articulated, it felt like chatting with a real person.” (Participant #1)
	Interaction	“I would have liked to have more dialogues with the chatbot and less external interaction (YouTube video).” (Participant #1) “I would prefer to interact and chat whenever I wish, and not only on fixed days.” (Participant #8) “The interaction with Atena should be more personalized based on the user’s answers, sometimes the answering options did not take into account the different nuances of mood.” (Participant #9) “Interactions could only take place on the days agreed upon at the outset.” (Participant #13)
	Flexibility	“I really liked being able to have flexibility in the scheduling.” (Participant #2)
Tasks
	Notification	“Notifications reminding people to take the test.” (Participant #4) “I feel satisfied. My only remark is about the notifications in the dialogue flow, which tended to be overlooked.” (Participant #4) “Not having time when the message arrived and then forgetting to do the exercises.” (Participant #5) “Atena sent me notifications when it was not suitable for me (despite my choosing of scheduling options) and then I forgot to do the activity.” (Participant #7) “It would be nice to specify at the very beginning when an activity requires places larger than a room or also to be outdoors.” (Participant #9) “I often didn’t have time to watch videos at the scheduled time, then I forgot to resume them because there was no reminder.” (Participant #15)
	Availability	“I can watch videos again whenever I like.” (Participant #11) “The scheduling options, in my opinion, should be more restrictive, or maybe deadlines could be set for some tasks.” (Participant #6) “The videos made it difficult for me to find enough time to watch them.” (Participant #12)